


Double Trouble

by BXVAce



Series: The Mandalorian Gunslinger [3]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018), Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Bounty Hunter Double Trouble, Bounty Hunters, Canto Bight, Double Trouble be blasting, House Renliss, Nar Shaddaa (Star Wars)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:22:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26599741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BXVAce/pseuds/BXVAce
Summary: Ace reluctantly takes on a novice bounty hunter in a high score hunt.
Series: The Mandalorian Gunslinger [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2047793
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	Double Trouble

**Author's Note:**

> Hello,
> 
> I should point out that this was actually kind of a difficult to write, mostly for writing Double Trouble. This is my first time writing a character that didn't use male or female pronouns so it was a bit confusing they/them. But I really do like Double Trouble and I wanted to write a story with them teaming up with my Mando character. There's also a bit of subtle social commentary, but I didn't want to make it evident. Other than that, hope the readers enjoy and yes, there is a sequel on the way. Peace

Ace entered the shady Nar Shaddaa bar, greeted by the foul smell of the patrons. He hated coming to Nar Shaddaa, the depravity, the lack of edicate, the filthy unkempt streets and this is the second place in all the galaxy to find the most wretched scum and villainy. The first obviously being Tatooine, but he’d rather be on Tatooine than here. However, he had a job to finish and payment to collect.

The bar was owned by a Toydarian named Balli, who hired Ace to acquire a special item for his business. Ace didn’t know what it was, he didn’t care, all he knew is that he wanted to finish the job and leave. Already he was getting eyes on him. Being a Mandalorian, people giving him the eye was commonplace, but this was Nar Shaddaa, all the people in this bar would want a piece of him.

He walked past this one stool that had a morbidly obese woman sitting on it. She was dressed in tight black leather battle garb, overly expressing her massive stature. Her hair was shaved into a messy green mohawk and her lips were black. As Ace walked past her, she glared over her shoulder at him.

Ace walked up to the bar and told the bartender, “Tell Balli I have his package.”

The bartender nodded and left to get his boss. After the bartender left, the morbidly obese woman walked over next to him and leaned on the bar, glaring at him. Ace didn’t even give her the slightest acknowledgement.

Getting closer to his helmet, she sneered, “Do you know whose bar you walked into?”

Ace didn’t acknowledge her.

“Hey, I just asked you a question, Mando!” the woman growled loudly. “I asked you do you know whose bar you walked into!”

“I heard you the first time, I didn’t care then.” Ace replied, still not looking at her.

The woman slammed her hand on the bar and shouted, “This is House Renliss territory! Your kind aren’t allowed around here!”

“House Renliss, huh?” Ace asked curiously. He finally looked at her and asked her, “That’s the bounty hunter cult that only employs women hunters and only takes commissions on men, right? Didn’t they lose clout when the Empire died out?”

“They sure did.” The bartender said as he returned. He told Ace, “Balli will be down in a little while.”

Ace nodded in response then turned his back to the large woman. Angered even more, she reached into a pouch on her belt and pulled out some credit chips. She slammed them on the bar and both Ace and the bartender looked at them.

The woman asked, “Lost clout, huh? That’s ten thousand credits right there!”

Looking away from the credits, he told her, “Those are Imperial credits. They aren’t worth much, even out here.”

“Oh yeah? Well they can have me buy this entire bar if I wanted to.” the woman cockily said, trying to cross her arms across her puffed out chest.

Ace looked back down at the credits then to the bartender and asked him, “Would you take those?”

The bartender scoffed and said, “No one on this planet would take those. Imperial credits have no backing out here.”

Not faltering, the woman said, “Well, maybe not here but I’m sure someone in the Outer Rim will take them.”

“I wouldn’t count on it. Any Imperial affiliation isn’t welcomed here nor in the Outer Rim.”

Ace looked back at her and asked, “How did you even get that? Ten thousand is the going price for a standard assassination and House Renliss doesn’t allow firearms.”

The woman glared at him and gave a condescending reply, “You don’t need firearms to kill someone, nerfherder.”

The bartender said under his breath, “Yeah, I’m sure your smell is enough to kill anyone.”

“Beside, I don’t kill anyone. This was for an escort mission.”

“What did you escort?” Ace asked.

“Not that it’s any of your business, bantha brain, but I escorted a noble across several star systems.” she said then gave a cocky smirk.

“Who was the nobel?”

“A dutchess from Alderaan that escaped before the Death Star. She wanted me to take her to Naboo.”

“Was it Dutchess Ariana?”

“Yeah, what of it?”

“She has trillions of credits to her name. She paid me one hundred thousand credits to take her to Corelia.”

The woman’s cocky pose turned to utter shock and anger. Ace said nothing but the bartender laughed hysterically. He told the woman hunter, “You got suckered! You must feel like an idiot!”

The woman hunter turned back to Ace and demanded, “How did you get that much? What did you do to her to make her pay that price? Did you threaten her?”

“The Guild did the commission, I just took the job.” Ace replied. He turned and looked around the bar. This bar was usually filled with the scum of the underworld. He caught one, a dirty Besalisk drinking alone at one of the tables. He pointed to the Besalisk and told the woman hunter, “That’s Gregor Yun. He’s wanted on Jakku for scamming traders out of thousands. He’s also wanted by many star systems for murder, rape, arson and larsony. You collect him, I can give you a recommendation with the Guild.”

The woman hunter looked him over, studying the brutish patron. She looked over to Ace and told him, “I’m collecting him for House Renliss.”

The bartender asked, “Are you nuts? House Renliss couldn’t even pay a quarter of what he’s worth, even if Imperial credits had any value.”

She gave a salute and chanted, “Glory to Renliss, glory to the feminine.”

Then, she walked off, Ace and the bartender watched her go off.

The bartender whispered to Ace, “You sent her to her death.”

“Nah, she’s got this.” Ace said, pulling a kunai knife from a pouch on his belt.

The two watched as the hunter interrogated Yun, only to be insulted in response. He didn’t see her as a threat in any way, not without any weapons or even binders. She just had her words and empty threats. Finally, he had enough and just blasted her in the forehead. As she fell dead to the ground, Ace threw his kunai and it embedded into Yun’s neck. He grip it as he gurgled his dying breaths. Finally, he fell to the floor next to the hunter, gasping his final breath. Ace went over, pulled out a scanner and scanned Yun’s fingers, collecting the data and sending it to the Guild headquarters on Garduun. He waited until it was confirmed then he stood back up.

Looking down at the dead hunter, he told her, “Good job. I’ll pass your reputation on to the Guild. You’ll make history.”

As he walked back to the bar, he took notice of another hunter, this one a male dressed in pilot gear and had different weapons and equipment attached to his harness. The hunter was watching him from under the brim of his helmet. Ace knew this wasn’t the last he was going to see of this hunter.

Ace was heading back to his ship through the dirty and scum ridden streets. It was hard for him to pass by a corner without Twi’lek or Togruta women propositioning him, but he just pressed on. He turned down an alley, giving a slight glance over his shoulder. He knew the hunter from the bar was following him. The hunter turned the corner down the alley and trailed a distance from Ace. Ace cut the corner exiting the alley and the hunter started to quicken his pace. When he turned, Ace was nowhere to be found.

“Care to explain why you’re following me?”

The hunter raised his hands when he felt Ace’s blaster against the back of his neck. Ace had found his way behind the hunter.

“Turn around.” Ace demanded. The hunter complied, turning with a smirk on his face. Ace asked, “Who are you?”

“Relax, darling. I come in peace.” The hunter’s dialect didn’t match his thick voice. Through his accent, he spoke smoothly and confidently, nothing like any hunter like him before.

Then, he began to morph, turning from the berly and rugged hunter to a thin, green skinned reptilian with long blonde hair that was shaved on the sides, long pointy ears and yellow eyes. A long tail sprouted from the base of its spine. It wore a leather sleeveless leotard and pants that opened for the tail with varying patterns of dark green and mesh showing it’s skin. The boots it wore were high heeled and ankle high. It wore arm warmers that also cover the ring and pinky fingers on both hands. Around it’s waist was a thin dark green belt with various pouches.

Placing a hand on it’s chest, it spoke with a voice that was smug and confident, “Call me Double Trouble.”

Then it bowed before Ace.

Ace was impressed, but he still needed answers. He asked, “What do you want?”

Double Trouble stood back up and explained, “Apologies for the deception, but I wasn’t originally after you, you see. I needed to lay low and observe my former employer.”

“And that was?”

“Binx Greer, the hunter you just sent to her death back at Balli’s bar. I was working for her.”

“I thought House Renliss only hired women.”

“Oh, you assume too much, darling. They do, but their hunters are free to hire whatever backup they so wish. Well, as long as they're not male.”

“And you’re not?”

“I’m complicated.”

“I see.” Ace replied skeptically, but he let it go. He didn’t have time to waste debating with this hunter so he decided that he just wanted to get off of Nar Shaddaa. He told Double Trouble as he lowered his blaster, “Whatever it is you want, you can forget it. I won’t apologize for killing her, so-”

“That’s just it. If what they say is true about the Bounty Hunter’s Guild, then I want in.” Double Trouble cut Ace off.

Ace stared at Double Trouble for a moment, not saying a word. Then, he turned and walked away.

“Wha-HEY!!” Double Trouble shouted as they ran after Ace. Jumping in front of Ace, they demanded, “Look, I need work! If what you said about House Renliss is true and their payment’s no good then I’m done working with them! I need credible work.”

Ace told them, “There’s plenty of other organizations to find work with. The Ragnar Syndicate, Salaktori, Mantis, Benelex, call any of them.”

“The syndicates and houses don’t pay that much to begin with.”

“Also, I work alone.” Ace pushed past Double Trouble and continued on to his ship.

Watching Ace walk off, Double Trouble smirked and said, “Fine, then I guess I have to work the Amadeus Tii job by myself.”

Ace then stopped in his tracks and turned around. He asked, “Amadeus Tii?”

“Yep. And that’s not all, darling. I know where he’ll be.”

“Do you now?”

“Yep.”

Ace thought it over, then asked, “How much do you want?”

Double Trouble’s grin widened then they said, “The reward you can keep. All I ask is your sponsorship to get into the Guild. I could ask any hunter, but the word of a Mandalorian is set in stone.”

“I see.” Ace thought it over more. He didn’t know Double Trouble, he didn’t even know their species, but Amadeus Tii has one of the highest bounties in the entire galaxy. If the intel is good, then he could get a big payday, especially if Double Trouble was only interested in a sponsorship. He also could tell Double Trouble wasn’t lying about the intel, all they want is work. Ace said, “Fine.”

Clamping their hands together excitingly, Double Trouble happily cheered, “Oh wonderful, darling! You won’t regret it.”

Ace pointed his blaster at Double Trouble again, who looked nervously at it, and said, “I better not.”

He lowered his blaster and told them to follow him. As he walked on, he asked, “So where’s Tii now?”

“I don’t know if he’s there now, but Greer and I track his headquarters to a very interesting place.”

“Where?”

Double Trouble smirked.

* * *

Ace’s ship flew over the city, Double Trouble sitting in the copilot’s seat looking out the window, excited by the brightly lit city down below.

“I’m glad you’re excited.” Ace groaned. He looked over the city and muttered, “I hate Canto Bight almost as much as I hate Nar Shaddaa.”

“Wait, are you serious?” Double Trouble dumbfoundedly asked. Turning to Ace, they happily said, “This is the best place in the entire galaxy! The glitz, the glam, the money, the-”

“The stuck up, overly dressed, pompous dewback fodder that gamble their lives away. Plus the people running this planet are real sticklers when it comes to how people dock their ships.”

“How so?”

“I docked my ship in the planes over the plateau once and it nearly got impounded. It’s not like I docked on the beach or something.”

“Well, how about after we do this job, we triple your earnings at the casinos?”

“We do the job then we leave. If you get into the Guild, you can come here all you want if you’re looking for work.”

“Fair enough. So, how much do you know about Amadeus Tii?”

“Togrutan son of a former Regional Governor for the Empire. When he turned eighteen, he started doing dealings with the black market. When the Empire heard of this-”

“His father cut him off and forbade him from ever coming home.”

“Right. Now that the Empire’s gone?”

“Daddy’s got no clout and Amadeus is doing much better than him. Poetic justice.”

Ace hummed and said, “You’re good at intel. Why work for House Renliss?”

Double Trouble leaned back and explained, “I come from a far off planet. It was nice, but I wanted more adventure. I was a mercenary there so I figured I’d have a chance. The only one who really took an interest was Binx Greer. She found me on Tatooine, the only place in the galaxy that reminded me of home. She hired me, took me on a job then took all the credit and the money.”

“I hear that a lot from women who left Renliss to join the Guild.”

“Well, I followed her into Balli’s bar and hoped to get my cut, then you happened.”

“Trust me, you don’t want to get caught up with House Renliss. They only hire women, but they also cheat their hunters out of pay. They did work with the Empire working for female Moffs and Governors and only took bounties that were marked for men, even though women like Mon Mothma and Leia Organa had the highest bounties at the time. Their thing is women empowerment, but they cheat the women they hire. Many left the house after the Empire died out and started working for either the Guild or the Mantis Syndicate. Only elitist work for Renliss.”

“That doesn’t sound too smart.”

“It isn’t. It was originally run by two sisters, but one of them was killed by a smuggler named Dash Rendar.” Ace looked over and saw the docking bay and said, “This place is as good as any. Better be worth the three hundred credits I paid.”

The ship docked and the two stood up from their seats, Double Trouble stretching from the long ride. Once they were done, they went to Ace’s computer panel and gave the layout, “Okay, Tii’s stronghold is just outside a casino called The Showboat. It’s a large warehouse that’s used to store all kinds of heavy equipment. He’s got a small army as protection so we might have a little problem with that.”

“Not if you can shape shift.” Ace complemented.

“Well, just getting in wouldn’t be a problem. Getting him though is another one. His office is equipped with a panic room and he’s never alone. He has up to six men guarding him. We’d need to distract the rest of them.”

“Leave that to me.” Ace said, pulling out a detonator out of his pouch. Shutting off his computer, Ace told Double Trouble, “The Showboat’s on the other side of town. We’ll need a taxi to get there. You’ll need to act like one of the guards and scout out the warehouse.”

Double Trouble crossed their arms and said, “Darling, acting is my speciality.”

Ace hid in an alleyway across from the warehouse. Double Trouble took on the persona of one of the guards they just killed and was already inside. They were gone for a while and Ace was beginning to wonder if they got captured.

Then a guard came up from behind Ace and he drew one of his pistols to shoot him.

“Whoa Ace, it’s me!” the guard panicked, morphing back into Double Trouble. They nervously said, “Sorry, I sometimes get lost in character.”

“Damn it, Double Trouble. Don’t do that.” Ace groaned. He slipped the pistol back into its holster and asked, “So what did you find out?”

“The front’s the only way in or out. I was hoping to find a backdoor but it’s locked down tight.”

“I’ll unlock it. Any sign of Tii?”

“He’ll be here shortly. He’s meeting with some, uh, ‘stockholders’, as it were.” The sound of an incoming speeder got their attention and Double Trouble saw the passenger, “Oh wow, there he is.”

Ace turned and saw the speeder approaching, Amadeus Tii in the backseat. Both him and Double Trouble ducked down and watched him enter the building.

Ace said, “Now’s our chance. You go back in and wait for my signal.”

“What do I do then?”

“You take out as many of his guards as you can, I’ll deal with the rest.”

“How do you want me to take care of them?”

“Use your imagination.”

Double Trouble, still disguised as one of the guards, entered Tii’s office as one of the personal entourage. Tii sat down at his finely crafted desk and displayed a video comlink with one of his clients. Only three minutes in and Double Trouble was already bored. They couldn’t wait for Ace’s “signal” to break this up. Out of their boredom, they looked around the room at the other guards. They found the location of the panic room and hoped to subdue Tii before he could run for it. They also scanned around at the various items in the office, the rare taxidermy on the desk and shelves, the holocrons, the swords hanging on the walls, anything to get some extra money off of. That’s when they devised a plan of their own. After all, Ace did tell them to use their imagination.

Outside, Ace had snuck around the back and placed a charge on the permanently sealed back door and banged on it. He knew a good portion of the group guarding the warehouse would be suspicious, thinking the authorities would be raiding. After he banged on the door, he walked away and went back to the front.

Then, the back end of the building erupted in an explosion.

Tii jolted from his table and ordered his men to find out what was going on. Not wanting to wait for any answers, he ran for his panic room built into the nearest wall near his desk as all but one of his guards ran out. Double Trouble morphed back to normal and fired their blaster at the door, hoping to stop it from closing, but they were too late. Frustrated, they ran and tried to pry the door open with their hands, to no avail.

With half of the guards dead or recovering from the blast, Ace rushed through the door and drew his pistols, firing on all of the guards. Some hit him in the beskar, but he didn’t let that stop him. He reached his gauntlet out and fired off a swarm of Whistling Birds missile darts, cutting down even more guards.

Double Trouble used a decorative sword to try and pry the panic door when some of the other guards opened the office door and saw them. Double Trouble turned to see them raise their blasters and jumped behind the desk for cover. The shots rang out and sparks flew everywhere from the impacts. One guard got over zealous and charged the desk. When he ran around it, Double Trouble’s tail wrapped around his neck and pulled him down behind the desk.

They pulled the blaster from the guard’s hands as he struggled and said, “Thank you.”

Double Trouble then jumped up from behind the desk, using the guard as a shield, blasters in both hands and fired on the guards attack, two managed to escape, but the rest fell. One guard fired and shot the one Double Trouble was using as a shield. They ducked back down and saw the guard was already dead.

“Oh wow, that’s cold.” they said as they let the dead guard go.

They noticed the sidearm holstered to the guard’s leg and used their tail to draw it. Now holding three blasters, Double Trouble stood up and fired on the rest of the guards coming in.

Ace was using both blaster fire and hand to hand combat to fight back the small army, but he was getting pinned down. He ducked behind a forklift for cover. Some were running next to him, but he shot them. All the while, up to ten men had their blasters on him. He tried to figure a way out, but he only had one hope.

That hope was solidified when Double Trouble stepped out of the office, a blaster in each hand and using their tail to fire a third. Ace watched as Double Trouble wasted no time in cutting down as many guards as they could. One guard blasted the pistol from their tail, but it only wrapped around the guard’s neck and snapped it. Ace leaped up and shot a few guards as he went over to join Double Trouble. They used their tail again to pick up another blaster and Double Trouble and Ace stood back to back firing on the rest of the guards until there were no more.

Overlooking the carnage, Double Trouble spun the blasters around their fingers and said, “I could get used to this.”

Ace turned and said, “I gotta say, I’m very impressed.”

“Thanks but the job’s not done, darling.”

Tii panicked as he sat in the corner with a small blaster in his hand, pointing it at the door. He gave a high pitched scream when there was a loud bang and sparks flew from the door and it fell to the ground. Out of the smoky entryway came Ace and Double Trouble, blasters drawn and ready.

“Get out! Get out or I’ll shoot!” Tii warned, shakingly pointing the blaster at them.

Ace scoffed and said, “That’s a stun pistol. It won’t kill us.”

“I can still make my escape!”

Double Trouble and Ace pointed all five of their blasters at him.

“Okay, fine.” Tii tossed his blaster aside and held his hands up. Double Trouble’s tail tossed the blaster it held as they walked over with Ace and lifted Tii up by his shirt. Ace withdrew his blasters and cuff Tii. Tii said, “You’ll regret this, though. You know who my dad is?”

Ace replied, “Yeah, a former Imperial governor. He’s got no ties to the New Republic though.”

“And besides, daddy dearest cut you off, remember?” Double Trouble added. They then morphed into the Torgruta’s father and mocked, “You’re a disgrace to our family. You are never welcomed back into this house ever again.”

As Double Trouble morphed back, Amadeus Tii began to cry from the replay of his disownership and Ace began to laugh.

That’s when it hit them. Double Trouble said, “Wait, you laughed!”

Ace replied, “Yeah, so?”

“Well, it’s just that, wow, you don’t come off as someone who’d laugh!”

“Lets go.”

Double Trouble and Ace dragged Tii out of the warehouse. Tii stopped crying and started calling for help. The onlookers only watched as the two mercenaries dragged the screaming Togruta down the street. Eventually, Ace had enough.

“Would you like to do the honors?” he asked Double Trouble.

“Oh, I’d thought you’d never ask.” Double Trouble exclaimed. Holding Tii up by his shirt with their tail, Double Trouble plunged their fist into Tii’s face, knocking him unconscious. After that, Double Trouble only dragged Tii down the street towards the ship.

Once they arrived at the ship, Tii was thrown into the makeshift cell and shackled to the ground. Ace slammed and locked the door as Double Trouble placed their hands on their hips with a confident smile.

Ace turned to Double Trouble and said, “I have to say, the Guild can use someone with your talents. You’ve got my sponsorship.”

Double Trouble cheered, “Really? Ah, finally! I can-”

“Okay, relax.” Ace turned and went over to the pilot’s seat, telling them, “Once we arrive on Garduun, I’ll pass your evaluation to my liason Roz.”

“Got ya.” Double Trouble winked.

When Ace sat down and powered up the ship, they looked down to see if Amadeus Tii was still out cold. Certain he was, they pulled out a pad from their belt and made a connection. On the screen was a woman with dark hair tied back.

“Did you do it?” she asked him.

“I did.” Double Trouble whispered. They gave Ace a glance before telling the woman, “I’m on my way into the Guild. Not only that, I have a Mandalorian on my side.”

“Good. A Mandalorian will be the perfect prize. Wait for my message and bring them to me.”

“Got it. The Guild won’t know what hit them. Glory to House Renliss.”

“Glory to the feminine.”

Double Trouble cut the line and gave a sinister smirk. Little did they realize, Ace was listening in on the conversation.


End file.
